You couldn’t
really call it a break, the Yuuzhan Vong were still attacking, but for a small period of time, the Jedi had some kind of peace.

Most
of them needed this calm period to heal their wounds, while others wanted to re-join the war again.

The Jedi were meant
to protect the innocent, which caused some of them to protest Master Skywalker’s decisions. They felt he wasn’t
doing enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the Ralroost, Luke had persuaded Admiral Kre’fey to allow them to
train in a small room. Many Jedi had taken up the offer, and arrived in time for Luke’s speech.

He was happy
so many had followed his call.This was important. He didn’t want to lose any more Jedi, to the war or to their straying
from the path, but he had doubts that his training had prepared them enough for such an enemy.

He looked at his wife
to make sure she was ready for the task she had chosen.

When his students became quiet, Luke made eye contact with
every one of them before he finally spoke:

“Thank you all for coming.

I know some of you want to join
the war now; if you choose to go I won’t stop you, but I want you to be prepared.

We can’t afford to lose
any more of our kind, so the ones who choose to stay will receive a special training to better prepare them for our enemy.

You’ll
learn to become a weapon. You must learn this to be able to survive this war.Master Jade-Skywalker, my wife, will lead
this special training program. You’ll learn right from the Emperor’s Hand how to defend yourselves.”

Mara
spoke up: “Whom ever would like to learn this, your training begins here in two hours.May the force be with you.”

~~~~~~~~~

Jaina
Solo looked around in the training hall.She grinned at her friend Tenel Ka. “This will be very interesting.”,
she said with a look at the assembled Jedi.

“Fact!” Tenel Ka agreed.

Many of the young Jedi were
standing in the hall, including Jaina’s twin Jacen, Tahiri Veila, Lowbacca, the Jedi Master Kyp Durron, Valin Horn,
Raynar Thul and several others.

Surprisingly Jaina’s little brother Anakin wasn’t among them, he was practicing
in a simulator. She couldn’t blame him. In contrast to her, Anakin wasn’t in a fighter squadron, but had already
proven himself as a very good pilot.

As Mara entered the room, Kyp murmured, “Let’s hope this will
be different than the training Corran has led at the praxeum!”. He turned around to face a “not-very-happy-about-his-appearance”
look from Corran Horn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jaina became paired with Kyp for their first training lesson. She eyed him
suspicious and couldn’t help but wonder why the kriff she had been the one to train with him, especially when
they had to fight without any weapons, or the Force. Mara even wanted them to learn how to fight without the aid of the Force,
which proved to be tricky. Kyp was obviously stronger than her.

A new thought entered Jaina’s mind, causing her
to hold back a laugh.Mara and Corran had chosen her on purpose, but not to punish her, it was more a punishment for Kyp.
He couldn’t influence her; Jaina stood behind Luke and he had no chance of changing that or turning her against her
uncle.

She was so stubborn she would never surrender – especially not against a stronger enemy.

Never!
Not with me! Jaina thought as she rushed towards him and feigned a slap. Instead she lifted her leg and kneed him in the
gut.

Kyp’s tried to dodge, but lost his balance. Trying to prevent himself from falling, he grasped onto her
arm. Unfortunately he was already half-way down, causing Jaina to take a tumble.

Needless to say, she wasn’t
that pleased as she landed on the ground next to him.

“Kyp, you idiot! You did that on purpose!”

“Calm
down...We’re just training” He said softly, patting her left cheek. He smiled at her and offered her a hand. Jaina
thought a few seconds about whether to take it or not. It might be a trick, but how could she know if she didn’t try?She
took his hand and stood up.

“I don’t like to hit women, especially when they are as kind as you and the
daughter of my best friend.”

When they are as kind as you...Pictures of Kyp kept flashing through her mind.
She could still feel his touch on her cheek

Hell, why can’t this stop?! Jaina thought. She had no idea
why she kept thinking about him. Okay, he was kind, polite and had charm, but…

But what?

Jaina
frowned, confused. And deep down in her heart, she found the answer, the reason why she couldn’t stop thinking about
him. She was in love.And love is something one can’t control, not even with the force.

Suddenly she felt
a warmth rising within her heart. She was in love. And it felt good.